Despite launching a relatively underwhelming flagship this year, Samsung is back on top of sales charts. In India, the smartphone brand has edged out OnePlus and Apple for the country’s top spot after crunching last year’s numbers.

According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung, Apple, and OnePlus contributed to 95 percent of premium smartphone sales last year.

Source: Counterpoint Research

At the start of 2018, however, Samsung thoroughly beat out the other two brands because of the strong demand for their latest flagships. These include the Galaxy S9, S9+, and A8+.

Much of their success also drew from a wide range of discounts, bundles, and cashbacks. Notoriously, the brand always launches promos around Christmas time. True enough, Samsung’s sales skyrocketed in the fourth quarter. Prior, they were sitting well below OnePlus and Apple.

On the other hand, OnePlus enjoyed the most growth after last year. The brand grew a whopping 192 percent, capturing 25 percent of sales. Their growth exploded in the third quarter, in line with the OnePlus 5T’s launch. Speaking of, their new flagship was the best-selling phone of 2017. With the OnePlus 6 on the horizon, OnePlus looks poised to maintain its standing in second place.

Finally, Apple suffered the biggest downfall. After last year, their sales dipped by a staggering 55 percent. Whereas Samsung and OnePlus ended in better spots, Apple got the short end of the stick, ending in third place with only slightly more than 15 percent of sales.

Redmi K20 is the next affordable flagship killer

Without a doubt, the OnePlus 7 Pro is an impressive piece of hardware. From the smooth display to the flagship-level specs, you can’t deny that it’s a seriously good deal for its price.

One person, however, had different take right after OnePlus’ launch. Xiaomi’s Global VP Manu Kumar Jain congratulated OnePlus for the launch on Twitter, but followed it up by mentioning his company’s own flagship killer:

It’s rumored that Xiaomi’s supposed “Flagship Killer 2.0” is the Redmi K20, which was already confirmed by executives to come soon. It has also been speculated that the Redmi K20 is the successor to the widely popular Pocophone F1, and may be named the Pocophone F2 in some regions.

Besides the model name and the possibility of a K20 Pro variant, not much has been revealed about the Redmi flagship. Until now, that is. Newly leaked specs provide more hype for the upcoming Redmi powerhouse.

It all starts with the Snapdragon 855 chipset, which follows up on the Snapdragon 845 of the Pocophone F1. That’s complemented by a 6.39-inch 1080p OLED display and 4000mAh battery with 27W fast charging.

While those are expected of a flagship killer, what may be more interesting is the camera setup. Not only will the K20 pair have a triple-camera setup on the rear — consisting of regular, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses — but it’ll come with a pop-up selfie camera, as well. By extension, that would provide an all-screen front, free of notches or punch-holes.

India appears to be the initial market for the Redmi K20, similar to the Pocophone’s marketing approach. There has been no hinted pricing yet, but based on Xiaomi’s usual strategy, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a starting price hovering around US$ 400.

OnePlus 7 series hits India with attractive prices

OnePlus is often mocked for consistently increasing the prices of its offerings. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case. The company has followed a standard cycle of launching one flagship phone in May, followed by a slightly incremented T-branded phone at year end.

This year, OnePlus has launched two phones, the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro. The OnePlus 7 ensures the price doesn’t get any higher. It is on par with the previously launched OnePlus 6T. For those who are looking for more, the OnePlus 7 Pro is a top-tier flagship with new design and beefier internals.

Both are powered by a Snapdragon 855 processor and house 6GB RAM as the starting option. They also ship with OxygenOS based on Android 9 Pie. This is where the similarities end, however.

The OnePlus 7 Pro gets a curved 6.7-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. According to OnePlus, the higher refresh rate offers a 50 percent smoother experience you’ll fall in love with. Even the design has been revamped and the back feels premium with a gradual gradient.

The rear gets a combination of 48-megapixel primary sensor, 16-megapixel wide-angle camera, and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens. The 16-megapixel front camera is housed in a motorized pop-up casing. OnePlus is confident about its robust quality. The company also touted an industry-high rear camera DxOMark score of 111.

Lastly, these internals are backed by a mighty 4000mAh battery coupled with 30W Warp Charging technology.

The OnePlus 7, on the other hand, gets a conventional 60Hz Full HD+ display with a water drop notch. The back has a 48-megapixel camera along with a 5-megapixel depth sensor. Powering it is a slightly smaller 3700mAh battery with 20W Warp Charging.

Lenovo announces an affordable smartwatch for fitness enthusiasts

Xiaomi is known for making class-leading budget phones. However, the brand has also captured a massive wearable market in developing markets with the Mi Band. While Fitbit caters to the premium segment, there’s a huge demand for affordable fitness bands or watches.

Lenovo launched the Spectra and Cardio smart bands last year. Now, the brand is back with a new smartwatch. Dubbed EGO, it’s a digital wearable that brings fitness tracking at a budget price. The core features include a claimed 20-day battery life, heart-rate tracking, sleep monitoring, and handy notifications.

When compared to other bands, the EGO looks more rugged. It comes equipped with a classic sports watch casing. Additionally, it’s water resistant up to 50 meters. It can also be used as a swim tracker.

On the notifications side, it can display alerts about phone calls, text messages, and social networking apps. Unlike other offerings in this segment, the EGO comes with a unique remote camera operation. You can click a picture on your phone by tapping your watch.

According to Lenovo, it can detect activities like cycling and running to deliver accurate heart-rate readings. Lastly, an in-built alarm system can trigger vibrations.

The EGO pairs well with iOS and Android phones. It connects via the Lenovo Life app. It weighs just 45 grams and consists of a 42mm anti-shine band that can be easily swapped with other third-party bands.

The smartwatch costs just INR 1,999 (US$ 29) in India and will be available from May 10. For now, it’ll be selling via Flipkart and Croma retail stores.